Self-propelled tie destroying machine

ABSTRACT

A device for destroying railroad ties which comprises fire brick insulated open-topped fire box mounted on a self-propelled tracktravelling vehicle. The device is provided with at least one plenum chamber from which extends, along the top of one side of the fire box, a series of nozzles which are downwardly and inwardly directed into the box. These nozzles deliver air for combustion across the top of the box so as to form an air curtain which inhibits the escape of particles of ties being burned in the box. An endless conveyor is located adjacent the open top of the box on the side remote from the nozzles and ties are loaded onto this conveyor by means of a crane. The conveyor has a series of hydraulically operated pusher plates arranged longitudinally thereof which are operated by temperature sensitive elements within the fire box to distribute ties from the conveyor into area in the box where the combustion of ties already therein is substantially complete. The device also envisages the provision of a water wall boiler within the box which generates steam to drive a turbine which in turn drives air compressor motors to pressurize the air for the nozzles. An alternative embodiment includes a blower and a ducting system which will preheat ambient air and utilize the air to form the air curtain.

United States Patent [1 1 Stewart Dec. 4, 1973 SELF-PROPELLED TIEDESTROYING MACHINE [57] ABSTRACT Inventor; J Kenneth Stewart, Columbia;A device for destroying railroad'ties which comprises fire brickinsulated open-topped fire box mounted on [73] Assigneez Cannon, Incphmipsbu-rg, NJ a self-propelled track-travelling vehicle. The device isY provided with at least one plenum chamber from Filed! 1972 whichextends, along the top of one side of the fire box, a series of nozzleswhich are downwardly and in- [211 App]' No" 304,925 wardly directed intothe box. These nozzles deliver air Relamd Application Data forcombustion across the top of the box so as to form [63]Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 204,611, Dec. 3, an air curtain whichinhibits the escape of particles of 1971, abandoned. ties being burnedin the box. An endless conveyor is located adjacent the open top of thebox on the side [52] US. Cl 110/10, 1lO/l9, 110]] 19 remote from thenozzles and ties are loaded onto this [51] Int. Cl. conveyor by means ofa crane. The conveyor has a se- [58] Field of Search 110/8 R, 8 C, 18 R,ries of hydraulically operated pusher plates arranged ll0/l8 C, 19, 119;144/309 longitudinally thereof which are operated by temperaturesensitive elements within the tire box to distribute [56] ReferencesCited ties from the conveyor into area in the box where the UNITEDSTATES PATENTS combustion of ties already therein is substantially 526284 9/1894 Anderson 1 10/8 The device also ehvisages the Provisim of a2,961I977 1l/l960 Coleman ll0/8 water within the which geherates3,128,808 4/1964 Blix, Ji 144 309 steam to drive a turbine which indrives air 3,392,690 7/1968 Mandelbaum et al. 110/ l 19 pressor motorsto pressurize the air for the noules. An

3,465,696 9/1969 Amundsen... 110/8 alternative embodiment includes ablower and a duct- 3,610,180 10/1971 S6012! et al 110/8 ing system whichwill preheat ambient air and utilize Primary Examiner -Kenneth w.Sprague Attorney-Christopher Robinson et al.

the air to form the air curtain.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures I4 CONDENSER SELF-PROPELLED TIE DESTROYINGMACHINE This application is a continuation-in-part of my parentapplication Ser. No. 204,611 filed Dec. 3, l97l now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A problem existing in railroads toaday isthatthe destroying old railroad ties after they have been removedfromthe roadbed. This problem has been accentuated by the need to decreaseatmosphere pollution. The invention seeks to provide a device which willeffectively destroy ties leaving little residue or pollution.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention'provides a device fondestroying railroad ties and the like comprising an insulatedopen-topped fire box mounted on a self propelled vehicle for movementalong the railroad track; means forproviding a curtain of.combustionsuppoirti'nggas:under pressure from one edgeof thebox acrossthe opentop.

thereof to inhibit the escape of particles of ties being burned therein;and means for delivering tiesto be burned in the box and to distributethem selectively therein. The invention also relatesto the meansforproviding the curtain of combustionsupporting' gas.

In a preferred construction the'combustionsuppor-t ing gas is air andthemeans forsupplying it is a series-- of closely longitudinally spacednozzles downwardly and inwardly directed into the fire box.

According to a feature of the invention, aheat. ex-

changer such as a water wall boiler and superheater is provided inthe'fire box and may, in the preferred coristruction in accordance withthe invention, generate steam to drive a steam turbine which intur'nd'rives-apump for pressurizing theair curtain.

According to a feature of the invention, the meansfor distributing theties in the fire box-.iscontrolledin response to a signal from atemperature-responsive means in the fire box. v

Again, according to a preferredembodiment, the means for delivering theties include an: endless con veyor which is longitudinally located alongthe-upper edge of the fire box opposite the nozzles and 'the means fordistributing the ties comprising a series of longitudinally spaced ramdriven pusher plates.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the combustion supportinggas is ambient airwhichhas. been preheated by passing along the outsidefire box surfaces and the means for supplying the ambient airis aducting system consisting of an inlet portion, an outlet portion and apowered blower located there between.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT The following is a description by wayof example of I Referring now to the drawings: A fire box is.

mounted on the flat bed 11 of a self-propelled rail-' travelling vehicle13 whichis mounted on wheel bogies l4 and controlled from a cab l6.-Thefire box is lined v to the duct 33. From the duct, the air isdistributed as V an overfire curtain. Because this embodiment utilizes aself-contained power source for the blower, such as a with refractorybricks 18 or the like and is open-topped at 20.

Extending longitudinally along one edge of the fire box are a pluralityof downwardly and inwardly dicreate a turbulent condition within thefire box lll and" to ensure virtually complete combustion leaving littleor noresidue. The incinerator works in the fashion of the APC Model 24DTrench Incinerator manufactured by. Air Pollution Control ProductsCompany of Richmond, VaJLThat isto say air is blown through the nozzles2'1 downwardly across the fire box where theair is -defiect'ed5 by thecurved back wall to the bottomof the fire box-then: across it in closecontact with the ties being; bumed' therein and directed finallyupwardly at the front wall until'it reaches the underside of the aircurtain. Y The fire in the fire box may be started by or maintainedbyjets ofcombustible gas such as propane from suitable nozzles 24in thewall of the fire box.

Iioeated'in-the wall of the fire box is a water wall tube boi1'er@25,and a superheater 26 is located in the fire boxso asto generate steamto drive a turbine 27 which in turn,.through gear ring 28, drives thefans 22. If desired, a' certainquantity of steam may be bled over from:the turbine andmixed with the air to be passed through the nozzles 21.The turbine may be provided with condenser 28 in known fashion.

Referring to the alternative embodiment of the in-' vention, as shown inFIG. 3, the fire box 10 is provided with spaces 35. 36 arnd 37 betweenthe inner and outer walls. Ambient air is drawn into these spaces 35, 36and 37 by a blower 38 via air intake openings located at theinlet-portion'end 34 of the fire box 10. The air passes overthe wallsand bottom of the fire box 10, causing a'cooling effect on the walls andbeing itself heated: The heated air is drawn into the blower 38 fromwhere itpasses under'pressure through a plenum chamber 39 diesel engine,the superheated 26 and turbine 27 may be disposed with. Further, aslarge amounts of air provide the necessary cooling effect on the firebox walls, the entire wall tube boiler 25 may be eliminated.

Located adjacent the other upper edge of the fire box is an endlessconveyor 30 onto which ties are placed by means of a crane 31 which isoperated by the operator in the cab to pick up ties from the side of theroadbed and laythem on the conveyor 30'. The conveyor 30 then moves theties longitudinally of the fire box and a plurality of hydraulic ramdriven plates 32 are located at spaced intervals along the conveyor 30.Operation of the rams 33 forces the plates to move across the conveyorand displace a tie therefrom to load it into the fire box 10. Control ofthe rams 33 may be either by the operator in thecab or may be under theautomatic control-oftemperature-sensitive devices (not shown) locatedthroughout the fire box. Thus where a previously loaded tie is almostcompletely .incinerated the temperature-sensitive devices will locate adrop in temperature in that area of the fire box and will, inconventional fashion provide a signal to operate a servo valve toactuate the appropriate ram 33 to move its plate 32 across the conveyor30 and load a further' tie to be burned into that area. The device hasthe advantage that it can be moved into an area where ties are beingremoved and the ties can be destroyed quickly and efficiently withminimum of pollution to the surrounding atmosphere.

It is of course to be understood that variations could be providedwithin the scope of the invention. For example, the conveyor 30 could bereplaced by some other loading means and the crane- 31 could be revplaced by a pick-up conveyor.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A device for destroying railroad ties and the like comprising anopen-topped fire box mounted on a selfpropelled vehicle for movementalong a railroad track; nozzle means extending longitudinally of andadjacent one edge to the box and downwardly and inwardly directedthereinto for providing a curtain of combustion supporting air underpressure across the top of the box to inhibit the escape of particles ofties being burned therein; means for delivering ties to be burned in thebox including an endless conveyor longitudinally located along the upperedge of the fire box opposite said nozzles; and means to distribut theties selectively in the box comprising a series of longitudinally spaceda water wall boiler and superheater. I

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which-a steam turbine driven fanmeans, is provided for pressurizing the air curtain and in which steamfrom the heat exchanger is used to drive the turbine.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim I in which the means to distribute theties are controlled in response to a signal obtained fromtemperature-sensitive means in the fire box whereby to supply new tiesto areas of the fire box where combustion of prior fed ties issubstantially completed. I

5. A self-contained device for destroying -railroad ties and the likecomprising an open-topped fire box mounted on a self-propelled vehiclefor movement along a railroad track; means on the vehicle for providinga curtain of combustion supporting gas under pressure from one edge ofthe box across the top thereof to inhibit the escape of particles ofties being burned therein; and means mounted on the vehicle fordelivering ties to be burned in the box and to distribute themselectively therein.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which the combustion supportinggas is air and the means for providing it, is a blower, inlet means tosupply air to the blower, and outlet means to distribute air from thedirected into the fire box.

1. A device for destroying railroad ties and the like comprising anopen-topped fire box mounted on a self-propelled vehicle for movementalong a railroad track; nozzle means extending longitudinally of andadjacent one edge to the box and downwardly and inwardly directedthereinto for providing a curtain of combustion supporting air underpressure across the top of the box to inhibit the escape of particles ofties being burned therein; means for delivering ties to be burned in thebox including an endless conveyor longitudinally located along the upperedge of the fire box opposite said nozzles; and means to distribut theties selectively in the box comprising a series of longitudinally spacedram driven pusher plates.
 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in whichheat exchange means is provided in the fire box and comprises a waterwall boiler and superheater.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in whicha steam turbine driven fan means is provided for pressurizing the aircurtain and in which steam from the heat exchanger is used to drive theturbine.
 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the means todistribute the ties are controlled in response to a signal obtained fromtemperature-sensitive means in the fire box whereby to supply new tiesto areas of the fire box where combustion of prior fed ties issubstantially completed.
 5. A self-contained device for destroyingrailroad ties and the like comprising an open-topped fire box mounted ona self-propelled vehicle for movement along a railroad track; means onthe vehicle for providing a curtain of combustion supporting gas underpressure from one edge of the box across the top thereof to inhibit theescape of particles of ties being burned therein; and means mounted onthe vehicle for delivering ties to be burned in the box and todistribute them selectively therein.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5in which the combustion supporting gas is air and the means forproviding it, is a blower, inlet means to supply air to the blower, andoutlet means to distribute air from the blower as the curtain. 7.Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein the inlet means to supply air tothe blower is such that the air passes along the fire box wallspreheating the air and providing cooling for the walls.
 8. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 6 wherein the outlet means is a longitudinal ductdownwardly and inwardly directed into the fire box.